Torquay (/tɔːrˈkiː/ tor-KEE) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies 18 miles (29 km) south of the county town of Exeter and 28 miles (45 km) east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay and across from the fishing port of Brixham.
The town's economy, like Brixham's, was initially based upon fishing and agriculture; however, in the early 19th century, it began to develop into a fashionable seaside resort. Later, as the town's fame spread, it was popular with Victorian society. Renowned for its mild climate, the town earned the nickname the English Riviera.
The writer Agatha Christie was born in the town and lived at Ashfield in Torquay during her early years. There is an "Agatha Christie Mile", a tour with plaques dedicated to her life and work.[2]
The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning lived in the town from 1837 to 1841. This was on the recommendation of her doctor in an attempt to cure her of a disease; the disease is thought likely to have been tuberculosis. Her former home now forms part of the Regina Hotel in Vaughan Parade.
Torquay's name originates in its being the quay of the ancient village of Torre. In turn, Torre takes its name from the tor, the extensively quarried remains of which can be seen by the town's Lymington Road. The original name was thus Torrequay, then Torkay, Torkey and Tor Quay, before the words were joined in Torquay.[3]
The area comprising modern Torquay has been inhabited since Paleolithic times. Hand axes found in Kents Cavern have been dated as 40,000 years old,[4] and a maxilla fragment, known as Kents Cavern 4, may be the oldest example of a modern human in Europe, dating back to 37,000–40,000 years ago.[5][6]
Roman soldiers are known to have visited Torquay during the period when Britain was a part of the Roman Empire, leaving offerings at a curious rock formation in Kents Cavern, known as "The Face".[7]
The first major building in Torquay was Torre Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery founded in 1196.[8][5] Torquay remained a minor settlement until the Napoleonic wars, when Torbay was used as a sheltered anchorage by the Channel Fleet, and relatives of officers often visited Torquay. The mild climate (for the UK) attracted many visitors who considered the town a convalescence retreat where they could recover from illness away from the cold and cloudy winters of more northerly or easterly locations. The population of Torquay grew rapidly from 838 in 1801, to 24,767 in 1887.[9]
The second phase in the expansion of Torquay began when Torre railway station was opened on 18 December 1848. The improved transport connections resulted in rapid growth at the expense of nearby towns not on Isambard Kingdom Brunel's railways. The more central Torquay railway station was opened on 2 August 1859 with views of the sea from the platforms. After the growth of the preceding decades, Torquay was granted borough status in 1892.[10]
Torquay Tramways operated electric street trams from 1907. They were initially powered by the unusual Dolter stud-contact electrification so as not to disfigure the town with overhead wires, but in 1911, was converted to more conventional overhead-line supply. The line was extended into Paignton in 1911 but the network was closed in 1934.[11]
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution's Torquay Lifeboat Station was at the Ladies Bathing Cove from 1876 until 1923. A second lifeboat was kept at the harbour from 1917 until 1928.[12] Torquay was regarded as a "Spa Town" after the Marine Spa was built on Beacon Hill near the harbour. Originally called the "Bath Saloons complex", it had an open air tide-filled swimming bath. The complex was opened in 1853 after Beacon Hill headland was dynamited to make space for it. Charles Dickens was said to have made readings there.[13]
During World War I, military hospitals were sited in Torquay – many survivors from the Battle of Gallipoli recuperated in the town – and it was used as a troop staging area. In September 1915, King George V and Queen Mary visited.[14]
During World War II Torquay was regarded as safer than the towns of South East England, and played host to evacuees from the London area. The town did, however, suffer minor bomb damage during the war, mainly from planes dumping excess loads after participating in the Plymouth Blitz. The last air raid on Torquay took place on 29 May 1944, shortly before the D-Day landings in June and, in the months leading up to D-Day, thousands of US Army personnel arrived with the 3204th Quartermaster Service Company billeted in Chelston and Cockington. During Operation Overlord more than 23,000 men of the American 4th Infantry Division departed Torquay for Utah Beach. The loading ramps used by the American army are still visible in front of the Regina Hotel on Vaughan Parade.[15]
The water sport events of the 1948 Summer Olympic Games were held in Torquay, and the Olympic flame brought from London to Torre Abbey Gardens.[16] Although it did not host any Olympic events for the 2012 Summer Olympics, with the sailing taking place in Weymouth, Torbay looked to host teams as a preparation camp and the flame passed through once more on its route around the UK.[17]
After World War II several private high-rise blocks of flats were constructed above the Rock Walk cliffs and harbour, giving the area a Monte Carlo feel. In 1971, after a tragedy, the Marine Spa was demolished to make way for the ill-fated Coral Island leisure complex. This was characterised by its concrete arches on its uppermost floor and sunbathing decks like those of a cruise liner. The site featured a hexagonal outdoor plunge pool surrounded by sunbathing terraces leading down to Beacon Cove beach. Inside the building were several lounges, a restaurant and a nightclub within the arches of the ancient swimming bath. All levels were served by a hydraulic passenger lift. Coral Island opened in 1977, and closed in 1988. The complex was demolished in 1997, 20 years after its construction. The site remained derelict until 2002 when the Living Coasts coastal zoo was built there.[18]
Torquay also boasted rehabilitation facilities for the blind at America Lodge, which was owned by the RNIB for a number of decades. Like many RNIB properties, this was sold off in the 1990s and the building was subdivided into private apartments.[19]
In the late 1980s, Fleet Street was rebuilt as the Fleet Walk shopping centre which has street-level shops and an upper-level shopping deck. The long, curved building which follows the street is magnolia-coloured and in mock Victorian style. In the late 1990s and early 2000s new pubs and night clubs opened around the harbour, leading to an increase in binge drinking;[20] however, in recent years a better police presence and responsible drinks promotions have improved the situation.[21]
Areas around Torquay have also been affected by either refurbishments or closure. For instance, the Rock Walk located on the town's seafront was refurbished through a £3 million funding project,[22] resulting in its reopening on 3 October 2010, as part of the Royal Terrace Gardens festival.[23] In 2013, the Torquay Pavilion was closed after a loss in funding and attempts to reopen it under new funding are ongoing.[24]
There is only one tier of local government covering Torquay, being the unitary authority of Torbay, which covers a larger area than just Torquay, also including Paignton and Brixham. Torbay Council is based in Torquay, having its headquarters at Torquay Town Hall.[25]
Historically, Torquay was in the ancient parish of Tormoham.[26] Until 1835 the parish was controlled by the landowners and the vestry, in the same way as most rural areas. More urban forms of local government began in 1835 when improvement commissioners were appointed for the parish.[27] The unelected commissioners were replaced in 1850 with an elected local board.[28] One of the local board's first projects was to build a town hall on Union Street, which was completed in 1852.[29]
In May 1876 the Tormoham Local Board voted to change its name to the Torquay Local Board, acknowledging that Torquay was by then the more commonly-used name for the town; it was said that having a different official name had been causing confusion.[30] In 1892, Torquay was made a municipal borough, governed by a corporate body officially called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Torquay", but generally known as the corporation or the town council.[28]
The borough was enlarged in 1900 to take in the neighbouring parish of St Marychurch and the Chelston area from the neighbouring parish of Cockington. The rest of Cockington was absorbed into the borough in 1928.[31] In 1911 a new town hall was built at Castle Circus.[32]
In 1968 the borough of Torquay, the urban districts of Paignton and Brixham, and the parish of Churston Ferrers were all abolished. A county borough called Torbay was created to cover the whole area (with some adjustments of the boundaries to neighbouring parishes at the same time). As a county borough, Torbay was administratively independent from Devon County Council.[33] Six years later, in 1974, local government was reformed again, with Torbay becoming a non-metropolitan district and Devon County Council providing county-level services to the area again.[34] Torbay regained its independence from the county council in 1998 when it was made a unitary authority.[35] Torbay remains part of the ceremonial county of Devon for the purposes of lieutenancy.[36]
Torquay (along with part of Paignton) is in the Torbay parliamentary constituency, created in 1974; previous to that, it was in its own eponymous constituency. The constituency elects one Member of Parliament, since 2024 Steve Darling of the Liberal Democrats.
Torquay is situated on the southwestern coast of England, forming one-third of Torbay, on the western side of the bay. It has a mild microclimate, with winters that tend to be mild and wet. A record high temperature of 31.5C was recorded on 14 July 2013, at 5:30 p.m.[38]
The town is made up of a number of small settlements that amalgamated into the town of Torquay. The town's historic core consists of Tormohun (also historically known as Tormoham),[39] Wellswood, The Warberries, Upton and Ellacombe and is based upon what was once the holdings of the Palk family. In 1900, Chelston and Livermead, part of the Cockington estate owned by the Mallocks, were annexed by the town and this was followed by the absorpti